Nalanda University bill in parliament next month

SINGAPORE - Giving a push to reviving the Nalanda University, India Friday said the land to set up an international university in its Bihar state has been acquired and a legislation to take the project forward will be tabled in parliament next month.

“The land for the university is already acquired and the Nalanda University Bill is being processed for parliamentary approval during the current session. I am confident of steady progress,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in Singapore on the last day of his visit to the city-state.

The Nalanda University was a great ancient and medieval centre of intellectual activity and learning in Buddhist philosophy, mathematics, medicine and other disciplines, he said while addressing the Nalanda Sriwijaya Centre at the Institute of South East Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

“…the East Asian Summit endorsed the establishment of the Nalanda University in the State of Bihar in India. This has been the product of many months of hard work put in by the Nalanda Mentor Group, and will be a shining example of cooperative action in the field of education,” he said.

Krishna, who wrapped up this three-day visit to Singapore Friday, called on Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, and Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Professor S. Jayakumar. He held wide-ranging talks with his Singaporean counterpart George Yeo.

Addressing the Indian community at a reception hosted by India’s High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan, Krishna expressed optimism that after a spell of recession, the Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.2 per cent for 2009-10.